A look at what some top childcare and infant care centres in Singapore offer
Are you a busy parent looking for infant care in Singapore? Infant care centres often have set times for little ones to have meals, nap and play in a safe environment while interacting with kids of their age. This routine enables children to develop motor, social-emotional and literacy and numeracy skills. Here are the programmes of some infant care centres and child care centres in Singapore.
Kinderland Infant Care and kindergartens
Kinderland Infant Care was launched in 2004 by Kinderland Academy & Preschool, which was established in 1978 as Yamaha Kindergarten. The children here represent a wide range of nationalities including American, Japanese, Australian, British, French, Chinese, Korean, Indian, Filipino, Thai and Indonesian, while more than half are Singaporean.
Music is infused into the Kinderland curriculum. Music education at the infant care centre begins by introducing infants to the sounds of different percussion instruments. As infants learn to respond to rhythms and beats through bodily gestures, they develop listening and concentration skills. Progressing to the toddler stage, songs and rhymes help them hone their language and literacy skills. As they become young children, participating in music and movement activities strengthen their motor skills. While exploring simple rhythmic patterns and count beats, they learn numeracy concepts. By the time they enter Kindergarten, children from Kinderland Infant Care centres are ready to play different instruments.
The infant care centre’s daily schedule also includes ample time for gross motor activities, social-emotional development, reading, exploratory play as well as naps, snack and milk times. A certified in-house nutritionist plans the menu, in line with the Health Promotion Board’s (HPB) Healthy Meals in Preschools Programme. This ensures that Kinderland children are absorbing the necessary nutrients for each development stage.
Guiding the infants are educators who have been in the early childhood industry for more than five years and meet the professional, academic and language requirements set by the Early Childhood Development Agency (ECDA) in Singapore. What’s more, Kinderland Infant Care in Singapore adheres to the ECDA teacher to child ratio of 1:5.
Kinderland says it advocates a strong relationship between school, parent and child. Parents are welcome to participate in various celebrations at their preschools throughout the year. There are also home-learning activities where parents can promote stronger learning bonds with their child.
Ages: 2 to 17 months old for infants; 18 months to 6 years for preschoolers
Hours: Mondays to Fridays, 7am to 7pm
6881 8818 | [email protected]
bit.ly/KDL-infantcare-EL
Mosaic Preschool infant care in Singapore
The infant care centre at Mosaic Preschool was established in August 2023. It follows a 3R approach – Respectful, Responsive, Reciprocal interaction – for child-led learning for fostering meaningful engagements. Children experience play-inspired learning through various activities in line with the Early Years Development Framework of Singapore. The activities include musical/art play, gym play, dramatic play, sensorial play, and chatterbox/book club. Activities incorporate both English and Mandarin to promote sensory exploration, early communication and motor skills development in infants.
The centre welcomes families from diverse backgrounds from various parts of the world, including Asia and Singapore. The Mosiac team says that this multicultural environment promotes inclusivity and broadens social interactions among their young learners.
Mosaic’s infant care educators are certified to provide infant care in Singapore. Additionally, all of them hold valid first aid certification. The infant care centre ensures each child receives tender care and attention in a nurturing, safe and stimulating environment by keeping the teacher-to-child ratio at 1:3.
Meals consist of fresh and nutritious foods that are natural and minimally processed. Children enjoy vegetables, wholemeal food, cereals, chicken and fish. Softer options like carrot sticks are available for infants who are teething.
The infant care centre believes in fostering strong partnerships with parents. Parents are regularly updated on their instant’s progress through Mosaic’s app and playbooks. Family Day sessions also provide parents opportunities to engage and stay connected with their child’s overall development.
Ages: 2 to 18 months
Hours: Half-day, 7am to 1pm; full-day, 7am to 7pm
168 Changi Road, #03-01
9615 3641 | mosaicpreschool.sg/infant-care
ELFA Preschool – infant and childcare centre
Established in 2000, ELFA Preschool welcomes children from two months to six years. The infants at their infant care centre include French, Korean and Indian, with more than half being Singaporean.
ELFA focuses on Mandarin acquisition in young children. The English-Mandarin bilingual curriculum uses a story-based approach. As children enhance their oral language and reading skills, they learn moral values. Additionally, the childcare centre caters for the holistic development of young children through various programmes. These include ELFA Higher-Order-Thinking Maths, Creative Arts, Chinese Speech & Drama, Coding and ELFA Physical Fitness. The centre ensures the healthy growth of children with meals planned by their certified in-house nutritionist, according to the Meals in Preschools Programme by HPB.
Thes infant care centre in Singapore says that its educators meet the requirements set by the ECDA in professional, academic and language proficiency. Most of them have more than five years of experience in early childhood education and have experience with the ELFA curriculum.
Throughout the year, parents can join in various celebrations and this helps to foster strong school-parent-child relationships and strong learning outcomes for the child.
Ages: 2 months to 6 years
Hours: Mondays to Fridays, 7am to 7pm
6881 8818 | bit.ly/ELFA-infantcare-EL